• Published 16th Mar 2013
  • 4,897 Views, 232 Comments

Rainbooms and Romance - Kodeake



Series of short, non-related chapters of Twidash.

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13
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Paradox

Paradox
(Continuation of Time)

Six mares sat in the middle of Ponyville’s Golden Oaks Library. All together they formed a circle. The mood was clearly tense, the awkwardness of the whole situation thickening the air around them. None of them knew where to begin, or even what to say at all.

“So…” Rarity started slowly, her ever elegant composure giving her a leg up on the rest of the ponies. Used to functioning under stress, she took the floor, clearing her throat before continuing.

“I think it’s pretty clear that we made a mistake,” she said, motioning to the other mares that had shown up on library’s doorstep a few minutes before.

“Ya think,” Rainbow snorted, her forelegs crossed defiantly. She wore an obviously displeased expression, her anger ever present.

“Yeah we do think,” Applejack retorted defensively, her competitive side getting the better of her as she rose to her hooves. “And if you can’t accept that then I have no reason being here.”

Rainbow matched her, her temper heating up as she stood. “Then you may was well leave, because I will never forgive you for what you did.”

“We’re not saying you should, all we want is for you to hear us out,” Rarity interjected, hoping to stem the argument before it could grow too heated.

“Give me one good reason,” Rainbow spat, her wings flaring out aggressively.

“Because we’re super duper sorry and we want you two to be our friends again?” Pinkie offered quickly, her hopeful statement bringing only more anger to the pegasus.

“Yeah right, you four made it pretty clear you didn’t want us as friends.”

“Ponies change,” Fluttershy whispered quietly from behind her mane, trying not to add more fuel to the already blazing inferno. Rainbow turned to face the shy yellow mare, a comeback already on her tongue. Instead, she stopped herself. She froze, just staring at the pegasus, Fluttershy having shrunk considerably under Rainbow’s gaze.

She couldn’t do it. Why couldn’t she do it? Why couldn’t she just say what she wanted to say and get it over with? Sure, it would hurt Fluttershy, it would hurt a lot, but not as much as what they had done to her. Nothing she could do would ever come close to that, so why couldn’t she do it? She couldn’t possibly feel bad about it; they deserved everything she could throw at them. Yet she just couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“Enough!” Twilight shouted, drawing all eyes to her, including Rainbow’s. She stood abruptly from her spot to address the gathered ponies, all of them sitting back down and waiting for the oncoming lecture.

“You four, wait here, and make sure you know exactly what you want to say to us. Rainbow, with me,” she said before quickly turning and trotting away. Rainbow sputtered uselessly for a few seconds, unsure of what was going on. She had little time to think before Twilight took matters into her own hooves and enveloped Rainbow in a magical bubble, forcefully dragging her away from the group and into another room.

The door shut with an abrupt slam after Rainbow had been pulled in. A quick soundproofing spell surrounded the room before Twilight fell back to her haunches, letting her magic fade from around the pegasus.

“What’d you do that for?” Rainbow asked accusingly, her anger still boiling just beneath her skin.

“Because if I didn’t then you’d just keep insulting them and we’d get nowhere,” Twilight answered simply. Rainbow stared slack-jawed at her.

“You’re saying that was my fault?” She gasped, disbelieving her own ears.

“No, it’s just… you’re both too stubborn to be doing something like this without at least a little outside help,” Twilight explained carefully, cautiously avoiding unintentionally implying anything that would set Rainbow off on her; that was the last thing any of them needed.

“Are you saying we shouldn’t be there?”

“No, just… gah. Alright look, we’ll go back out there, and when we do, how about you just let me do the talking? And if you feel the need to say something, try to say it the least offensive way possible,” Twilight offered, hoping to come to some kind of middle ground, at least enough to make a little progress with the group in her lobby.

“I say they need to be offended,” the pegasus spat, beginning to pace back in forth in front of the door in an effort to vent at least some of her anger.

“Why? Is what they did to us really so bad that you won’t even hear them out anymore?”

“It’s not what they did to us!” Rainbow shouted, suddenly spinning to look directly at the unicorn, hooves slamming down on the ground for added emphasis.

“It’s what they did to you,” she added quietly, falling back to her haunches.

“What do you mean? They did what they did to us, not just me,” Twilight said, walking over beside Rainbow and sitting down next to her.

“I mean I don’t care about what they did to me; my whole life I’ve been bullied and shunned because ponies thought I was gay. I’m used to it. You’re not.” Rainbow’s head snapped up as she felt a gentle pressure on her shoulder.

“Rainbow,” Twilight whispered slowly, her face fighting between a frown and a small smile. Eventually she gave up and flung her hooves around the pegasus in a tight, loving embrace, which was eagerly returned.

“I’m not saying you have to forgive them, Celestia knows I haven’t, but for now can we just put it aside? Nothing’s ever gonna get better if we don’t make an effort. They’re here; they’re making the effort to fix this, and we need to do the same.” Twilight held Rainbow’s gaze as she spoke, pulling back from the embrace. Eventually Rainbow sighed, her shoulders and wings sagging slightly.

“Only for you Twi,” she relented eventually, fully separating from the unicorn and standing.

“Good, now we should probably be going back before they come looking for us,” Twilight reasoned, standing and trotting over to the door. With a quick flash of her horn the soundproofing spell was gone and the door swung open. Rainbow followed her out and back to the small group of ponies in the main room.

“’bout time you two finished in there, what were ya doin’ anyway?” Applejack asked, voicing the question on everypony’s mind.

“That, for now, is none of your concern,” Twilight said breezily, rejoining the circle and sitting back at her previous position, Rainbow doing the same. Applejack raised an eyebrow at the response, but said nothing.

“Now then, have you determined exactly what you want to say to us?” She asked quickly, glancing around the circle as they fidgeted nervously, none of them quite willing to step forward.

“Well?” She repeated, tapping her hoof impatiently. Even Pinkie was uncharacteristically quiet, unsure of how exactly to phrase what they wanted to say.

“Um… well, I suppose the best way is to say it directly,” Rarity began, her ‘proper’ façade all but shattered under the expectant stare of Twilight.

“Yes, direct would be the best,” Twilight agreed with a nod. Still though, nopony spoke.

“We’re… sorry,” Rarity said after a long silence, looking between her friends in the hopes of getting some support.

“We were wrong to judge you like that,” Fluttershy added quietly.

“We don’t really expect you to forgive us,” Applejack muttered, obviously as uncomfortable with the situation as the rest of them.

“But we really are sorry,” Pinkie finished, her out-of-character seriousness bringing a slight frown to Twilight’s muzzle. For a time there was a thick silence blanketing the room. Eventually, it was broken, much to everypony’s relief.

“Well,” Twilight began slowly, chewing over the apology in her mind. “While I can’t say we forgive you, we do accept your apology. Right Rainbow?”

“Uh… yeah,” the cyan mare answered after some hesitation.

“Well, I guess for now that’s good enough,” Applejack grumbled. Rainbow was about to snap at her, but a stern look from Twilight prevented any action.

“Yes, well,” Rarity paused; coughing into her hoof to ensure everypony was paying attention, “Now that that’s over, what now?”

“Now?” Twilight asked, giving a sly smile to Rainbow before looking back at Rarity. “Now you work. You work to earn our trust again. You do that, and we’ll talk about forgiving you.”

Author's Note:

You may have noticed that the prompt has absolutely nothing to do with the story, that's because it isn't the prompt. What it is, is the first part of the name Paradox949, who just the other day became the 100th person to favourite this story. So I thought I'd do something special. If he/she chooses, I will dedicate a chapter to them. They will pick the prompt and what happens. Ever wanted to see something specific happen? I'll write it for you! If you want, drop what you want me to write in the comments (or a PM if you have specifics in mind). If you choose not to, then I would ask permission to keep this chapter named after you. Of course, simply let me know if you would rather not have it that way, but I feel like doing something nice for the person who let this story break 100 fav's.

Anyway, as for the actual chapter, this will (probably) be the last chapter in this series, I may start another mini-story later, but for now I want to do a few more fluff chapters. Let me know what you all think and don't forget to bug me with any mistakes you find.